This invention relates generally to round bale forming machinery and, more particularly, to an improved ejection mechanism for accomplishing the discharge of the completed bales.
Many bale forming machines exist which form fibrous agricultural crops into bales that are either twine or wire tied. For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,653 to Sacht discloses a method for forming large round bales in a machine comprising a cage-like frame having a horizontal axis and a generally cylindrical shaped baling zone. Upwardly extending machine sidewalls form the confining end surfaces of the baling zone. A plurality of serially arranged conveying elements enclose and generally define the circumferential periphery of the baling zone. Thus, the size of the baling chamber remains constant during the bale forming process. To accomplish discharge of a completed bale, the baling chamber is divided into two portions approximately along a vertically extending axis cutting plane. The rear portion of the housing is then configured to swing upward from a hinge point at the top, thereby allowing the bale to be discharged rearward.
The U.S. patent application having Ser. No. 162,372 and assigned to the same assignee as this application, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,446, discloses bale forming means which differ somewhat from the implementation of Sacht. Two additional rollers are added to support the bottom conveyor belts. As viewed from the side the improved system shows four rollers on which a plurality of laterally spaced belts are trained. The second and third rollers (which are respectively in the forward and aft portions of the conveyor midsection) and the fourth roller (which is at the rear of the machine) are disposed to be generally on the cylindrical periphery of the baling zone. The first roller is in front of and somewhat below the plane containing the axis of the third roller. The invention improves on Sacht in two ways. First, the vertical dimension of the entrance throat is enlarged. This allows the baler to operate in a heavier stand of hay without becoming clogged. Second, by lowering the placement of the front roller, a pickup reel of smaller diameter can be used. This permits the flow of hay being picked up from the windrow to pass into the baling zone without undergoing abrupt changes in direction. The laterally spaced conveyor belts accept the crop material being passed on from the pickup reel and frictionally engage the crop strands to provide inward directed pressure to carry them into the baling zone.
This invention is shown in conjunction with a baler having a bottom conveyor member for receiving agricultural material which is constructed similar to that disclosed in the U.S. patent application having Ser. No. 162,372. With either this or the Sacht machine, a completed bale lies in a depression ahead of the rearmost roller due to the stretching of the belts under the weight of the bale. As the bale is formed it rotates due to the frictional impact of the moving belts. This results in the situation where the bale is rotating on its horizontal axis when the tailgate opens for discharge. If the bale continues to rotate in the depression ahead of the rearmost roller, it will tend to remain slowly turning in place, rather than complete the discharge sequence. Our invention solves this problem by introducing a coupling force which slows the bale from rotating, thereby allowing the bottom conveyor belts to move the completed bale over the rearmost roller and out the back of the machine.